I Love Team Building

Article by Al Lock questions the validity of mixing people up in a team building activity.

A recent informal survey by team building provider Critical Pathfinders indicated that 86% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed with the statement “A well-organized team building activity increases my trust in my co-workers”.

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I like the idea of mandatory team building!

The Pay It Forward program offered by Critical Pathfinders is highlighted in this video.  Have a look and comment to let us know what you think.

To anyone who has ever participated in a team building activity at work, would you please answer my one-question poll?  Click: http://polls.linkedin.com/p/46900/wject

Excellent article that explains the importance of team building duing hard times. It is posted in our LinkedIn group for team building providers: Rallying the Troops

I’ve created a LinkedIn group for team building providers. http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1986719  It is a place where we, as providers of team building services (including business owners, staff and facilitators) can share ideas and resources, talk about industry-related issues and improve the offerings that we provide.

Please join & contribute.  Thank you for your interest!

The power of play for work teams is well described in this article, an interview with Kevin Carroll, author of The Red Rubber Ball at Work: Elevate Your Game Through the Hidden Power of Play

I always encourage corporate goups to clearly define their objectives before sourcing team building activities. This article is a clear example of a manager who needs to spend more time on this.

How does a new manager impact the dynamics and effectiveness of a work group?  Read this article and find out.

This is NOT the kind of team building program that is offered at Critical Pathfinders!  I wonder what Tony’s legal department would say about this activity!?!

If you are facing challenges with employee retention, then you need to read this posting.  There are great thoughts on why people leave, what to do when you’ve determined why they leave and ways to retain employees for longer. 

Team building is also a great way to retain employees and make them feel part of the team.

Want a taste of what our team building scavenger hunts look like? Just watch this short video:

If you lay off 5% of your workforce, you need 5.26% more productivity from your remaining staff.

Morale is low, people are angry, scared, worried.

How are you going to get more productivity from them?

If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always got.

Maybe it is time to try something different.

I’ve set up a poll on LinkedIn.  Let me know how your budget for team building in 2009 has changed since last year.  http://polls.linkedin.com/p/17434/fbaoc

Click to learn about Team Building by Scavenger Hunt Anywhere.

What is meant by the term “team building”? Great discussion in LinkedIn Answers.

Interesting to see that employee retention remains a key concern.

TORONTO, Jan. 8 /CNW/ - A recent survey suggests today’s employers are
most worried about hanging on to good employees, even in the current economy.
When asked about their greatest staffing concern, 35 per cent of senior
executives interviewed cited employee retention, while 23 per cent said staff
morale. Recruitment was named by 22 per cent of respondents.

The survey was developed by Robert Half International, the world’s first
and largest staffing services firm specializing in accounting and finance. It
was conducted by an independent research firm from Sept. 15 to Oct.15, 2008,
and is based on interviews with 100 senior executives in Canada.

Executives were asked, “What is your greatest staffing concern?” Their
responses:

    <<
              Retention …………………………  35%
              Staff Morale ………………………  23%
              Recruitment ……………………….  22%
              Productivity ………………………  17%
              Other …………………………….   1%
              Don’t know ………………………..   2%
                                                       —-
                                                       100%
  �
“Many firms are operating with lean teams in which every staff member
plays a key role in the business, making retention a greater concern,” said
Max Messmer, chairman and CEO of Robert Half International and author of Human
Resources Kit For Dummies(R), 2nd Edition (John Wiley & Sons, Inc.).
“Companies that lose top performers may not only experience declines in
productivity but also incur significant costs in replacing these
professionals.”

Mike Gooley, branch manager for the Toronto operations of Robert Half
International added, “Maintaining employee morale will assist with retention
efforts. One of the best ways to accomplish this is through effective
communication, making it is essential for executives to engage in frequent
dialogue with staff members to keep them updated on company news and offer
praise and encouragement.”

Robert Half International has more than 360 staffing locations worldwide
and offers online job search services at www.rhi.com.

On the television and in the newspapers, gloomy financial news piles up day after day. Companies both large and small are struggling. You see news like…the stock market is crashing, banks are failing, mortgage companies are failing, the housing meltdown, and unemployment is skyrocketing. If it wasn’t for the bad news, there’d be no news at all.

One thing that all these recurring news stories do is cause a large amount of stress. This stress is both emotionally and physically devastating and has a significant workplace impact. When a body is under stress, the endocrine system releases high levels of cortisol and adrenaline which inhibit a person’s access to their creativity. However, uncertain economic times demand the highest levels of creativity. You need more from your staff, not less. Your company needs new ways to increase productivity, enhance your services and get new business. You can’t do this in “fight or flight” mode.

In 2009 your company will either thrive, survive or die. We can help yours be one of the few that choose to thrive. At this key turning point in the economic cycle you may be unsure about how to boost morale and motivate your staff. You may be seeing a lack of communication among your employees or tendency to only focus on the negative. Critical Pathfinders provides solutions to help keep your employees engaged, motivated and productive. In response to the changing need of our clients, we have developed new and exciting programs that are sure to move your company forward this year.

Leveraging the Power of Crisis - Your organization can thrive during a crisis because crisis reduces the resistance to both personal and organizational change. The organizations that will thrive are the ones that seize the opportunity NOW to change their focus, seeking solutions that lie beyond “the way things have always been done”. Click for more information

VolunTeamBuilding - VolunTeamBuilding is a program in which your team gets all the benefits of a team building program while also making a difference in the lives of others. VolunTeamBuilding challenges your team skills, reminds employees how it feels to be of service and how to do more with less. It is also a lesson in self-reflection and remembering what life is about and how working together in a positive way can make a difference in the world. Our VolunTeamBuilding programs can be added on to our scavenger hunt programs or done on their own. Learn more

Now more than ever, powerful decisions need to be made on how to get the most performance from your people. The current economy is placing new challenges for everyone. Allow your team to get off to a powerful start in 2009 and be one of the few that thrive this year!

Roxanne Emmerich wrote an article called motivating employees during tough times. I enjoyed the article, then realized that it was written in 2002. Remember 2002? Tough times. What we are going through now is just a necessary part of the economic cycle. At our company, we have taken the stand that it is possible to have a great year, even when the economy is difficult and we are planning for 2009 to be our most successful year ever. We are having all-staff conference calls for 2-5 minutes every morning to remind ourselves of what we need to do in order to stay focused on the objective and the things that we can control.

What are you doing to motivate your team?